2013 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,200 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it would take about 37 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Last night the bombs rained down on London

249 Sqn. RAF in the defense of London

Thousands fled to underground shelters as the Luftwaffe raiders leveled the center of the city. Although RAF night fighters put up stiff resistance to the raids, the Luftwaffe achieved their goal by destroying many targets in the city of London and its vicinity. Plt. Officer Paulo “Sparow” Ribeiro, CO of virtual 249Sqn RAF, participated in a Spitfire I, operating from Debden airfield.

The Russians are coming!

Normandie-Niemen Yak-3

Two new Yaks arrived to Aces High in his latest version, the Yak-3 and the Yak-7B.  The Yak-3 was a small light fighter very popular with its pilots.  Entering service in 1944, it proved to be a handful to the Luftwaffe. Despite the larger number in the designation than the Yak-3, the Yak-7B was an earlier Yak variant converted from a 2-seat trainer.  It was simple, rugged, and reliable and will be a welcome addition to special events.

“Look, mum, no turret!” – the tank destroyers are here!

The Hetzer

The new version of Aces High is Jagdpanzer three ways. The Jagdpanzer concept of tank destroyers took the chassis of an existing tank design and modified it to a turretless design carrying a heavier main gun directly in the superstructure.

He 111 arrives to Aces High!

The Blitz once again!

At last, the He 111H arrives to Aces High in the new version released a few days ago!  Thanks to cactuskooler for making this beautiful skin.  The paint scheme is from 1/KG 55.

This plane was downed by RAF fighters on September 25, 1940 during a raid against a Bristol Aircraft factory. It made a crash landing in the English countryside in Dorset.

We are looking to forward to seeing future Battle of Britain and other special events using this iconic Luftwaffe bomber.

August 13, 1940: “Adlertag”

In the end, the day was ours!

Adlertag, or Eagle Day, took place on August 13, 1940 and was the start of the Luftwaffe’s attacks against the RAF over British soil. Aces High community reconstituted this day on a special event in the “This Day in World War II” arena.

Aces High Version 2.28 Released

Aces High received a major update and two new airplanes, the long awaited Ju 87G-2 – “tank killa!” – and the Me 410. Also the old Ju 87D 3D received a very needed update. Salute to Greebo for providing the default skin for the updated Ju 87D 3D model. The flight model did have some minor changes made, primarly in the altitude performance curve, but it is mostly the same as before. It dives.

The Ju 87G-2 was added. Again, thanks to Greebo for providing the default skin. This tank killing variant features 2 37mm cannons firing high velocity tungsten core ammunition. This ammunition has tremendous penetration capability for its caliber, but that capability falls off sharply past a 20 or 30 degree impact angle.

Ach!… Wee haf a besser Mosquito mit grösse kanonnen! Die Hörnisse!

We only need to hit once with the 50mm…

The Me 410 Hornisse is coming soon to the skies of Aces High! Hitech Creations will release this completely new model with the next major version of Aces High, according to official information released by the company in his website.

The Me 410 rectified the issues of the failed Me 210 program.  A versatile aircraft that could be used in numerous roles, the Me 410 saw much use as a bomber destroyer using a variety of heavy armament including the BK 5 50mm cannon and MK 103 30mm cannons.   It had success in that role until the presence of long range fighter escort forced it to be withdrawn.

Stukas on the prowl! Armour, beware!

This Junkers packs two great arguments against armoured vehicles…

Aces High has updated the Ju 87D-3 Stuka dive bomber for the next version of Aces High.  Simultaneously, HTC took the  opportunity to introduce a long awaited new variant, the tank busting Ju 87G-2.

The G model is a very capable anti-armor specialist armed with twin BK 3,7 37mm cannon firing high velocity tungsten core ammunition.  Hans-Ulrich Rudel, the most decorated Luftwaffe pilot in history, famously used the Ju 87G to great effect.  He ended the war credited with over 500 tanks destroyed.

Return of the Jedi

Petr is back!

No, this is not Star Wars. And this is not about Luke Skywalker. This is about the return of one of our old pilots to 249 Sqn RAF: Petr is back!

After several years in WW2 Online, Petr, our old friend “CzPetr” af Warbirds decided to return to Aces High. And he keeps his skills well honed already scoring several victories and showing the traditional bravery of Gold Coast pilots.